When Jared’s parents and brother visited us in Chiang Mai, we decided to splurge and visit the Old Chiang Mai Cultural Center. Tickets for our family of 5 (kids were half price and toddler was free) were 1560 Baht ($54 USD). Not the cheapest adventure in Thailand! We arrived to a large spread of seating on the ground around a central stage (some seats were available with chair seating, but this must be by special request). We had assigned...

The first time we went to Hawaii in 2009 for a business trip, we were sorely disappointed by what we found. Having lived in a place like Alaska for many years prior, we had assumed that Hawaii would similarly have a bit of a “last frontier” character, boasting of family owned businesses and rich Hawaiian culture. What we found was quite the opposite. The Waikiki strip was overrun with big-name resorts and high-end stores like Coach,...

It’s not all that uncommon to hear someone say, “I hope your kids remember some of your travels. I don’t remember anything from my childhood!” They’ve got a point–our children are only 8, 5 and 2 years old–awfully young to be soaking in some long-term memories. Sometimes I take the time to explain that we take a lot of photos, and I’ve found that when I look back through photo albums of my...

I admit, I’ve always had a love affair with pineapple. Growing up I had never had fresh pineapple (that’s what growing up in the Midwest will do to you), but I loved my canned Dole pineapple. I would open a can of crushed pineapple and freeze it in a Tupperware. Then, each morning I would hack away at it with a fork for breakfast. Totally weird—I know. So, I was really excited when we were offered an opportunity to visit the Dole...

We were fortunate enough to be hosted by the Waikiki Aquarium for a family visit last week! The Aquarium is located down Kalakaua Ave, next to a beautiful beach park. There is parking available on that Avenue, or the Aquarium also has limited free parking available for a time limit of 1 hour. You can see the Aquarium in 1 hour, so this is a fantastic option if you’re driving! At the entrance a photographer will take your family photo...

The Meechok Plaza is located on the second ring road and the corner of the Mae Jo Road leading out of Chiang Mai. Fortunately for us, it was only about a 10 minute motorbike ride from our rental on the outskirts of Chiang Mai—and the drive didn’t require us to enter the city at all! The Meechok Plaza boasts of a variety of restaurants, McDonalds (not a restaurant…hahaa!), Rimping Grocery store (with a great selection of foreign...